Naulty To Serve 25 Years For Murder Attempt
Prosecutors: Defendant Threatened, Tried To Kill Police Officer With Knife
Posted: November 21, 2012
HARRISONBURG — A man shot by a Harrisonburg policeman after authorities say he threatened officers with a knife will spend more than two decades behind bars.
Rockingham County Judge James Lane sentenced Jason Naulty, 37, to 50 years in prison, with 25 years suspended, during a hearing in Rockingham County Circuit Court Tuesday. He faced up to life in prison.
The Harrisonburg resident pleaded guilty Sept. 11 to one felony count of attempted capital murder of a police officer stemming from the early December incident. A second count was dismissed as part of a plea deal.
“I’m very pleased with the outcome,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst said following the hearing. “I hope the community will be safer because of it.”
The shooting occurred Dec. 2 after Harrisonburg police were called to the Eastbrook Manor Apartments in the 1000 block of Old Furnace Road for a report of a “distraught and emotionally disturbed man.”
Prosecutors say Naulty, armed with a butcher knife, ran toward Harrisonburg Police Department officer Phillip Read when he arrived on the scene. He later lunged at a second Harrisonburg officer, Alex Piper, which prompted Read to fire four shots, striking Naulty three times, police say.
“I yelled, ‘Drop the knife, drop the knife, drop the knife,’ as I was drawing my firearm” Read testified Tuesday. “He was so close, I had to fire to stop the threat. I didn’t want to shoot him but he made me.”
Read testified that he is still plagued with horrible memories from the night. He said it’s been tough on his family, too.
“Before I leave for work, every shift, I promise my wife I will come home,” Read testified.
During the hearing, several of Naulty’s family members testified about how his mental health began to deteriorate in the late 1990s.
In 1995, he was admitted to Western State Hospital, a state mental health facility in Augusta County. A mental health expert testified Tuesday that Naulty hears voices.
When Naulty was on his medication, his family said, he was fine. But when he wasn’t, it was bad.
“He lives in a dark and lonely world when he’s not on [his medication],” said his older brother, Thomas Naulty, of Lynchburg.
Garst, however, asked Lane to give Naulty a stiff sentence.
“This is as serious as we get … without having a funeral,” she said.
But Naulty’s defense attorney, Scott Hansen, argued that his client wasn’t trying to kill the officer that night. Instead, Hansen said, Naulty was trying to “commit suicide by cop.”
“I hear no mercy [from Garst]. All I hear is pure punitive punishment,” argued Hansen, who said after the hearing that he was disappointed by the sentence. “The enemy is not Jason Naulty. The enemy is the mental illness.”
Before Lane ruled on his punishment, Naulty addressed the court.
“There’s nothing I can really say that will make things better, but I’m sorry,” he said, adding he was grateful that police and rescue crews saved his life. “There’s no excuses for the way I lived my life.”
Contact Pete DeLea at 574-6278 or pdelea@dnronline.com
Rockingham County Judge James Lane sentenced Jason Naulty, 37, to 50 years in prison, with 25 years suspended, during a hearing in Rockingham County Circuit Court Tuesday. He faced up to life in prison.
The Harrisonburg resident pleaded guilty Sept. 11 to one felony count of attempted capital murder of a police officer stemming from the early December incident. A second count was dismissed as part of a plea deal.
“I’m very pleased with the outcome,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst said following the hearing. “I hope the community will be safer because of it.”
The shooting occurred Dec. 2 after Harrisonburg police were called to the Eastbrook Manor Apartments in the 1000 block of Old Furnace Road for a report of a “distraught and emotionally disturbed man.”
Prosecutors say Naulty, armed with a butcher knife, ran toward Harrisonburg Police Department officer Phillip Read when he arrived on the scene. He later lunged at a second Harrisonburg officer, Alex Piper, which prompted Read to fire four shots, striking Naulty three times, police say.
“I yelled, ‘Drop the knife, drop the knife, drop the knife,’ as I was drawing my firearm” Read testified Tuesday. “He was so close, I had to fire to stop the threat. I didn’t want to shoot him but he made me.”
Read testified that he is still plagued with horrible memories from the night. He said it’s been tough on his family, too.
“Before I leave for work, every shift, I promise my wife I will come home,” Read testified.
During the hearing, several of Naulty’s family members testified about how his mental health began to deteriorate in the late 1990s.
In 1995, he was admitted to Western State Hospital, a state mental health facility in Augusta County. A mental health expert testified Tuesday that Naulty hears voices.
When Naulty was on his medication, his family said, he was fine. But when he wasn’t, it was bad.
“He lives in a dark and lonely world when he’s not on [his medication],” said his older brother, Thomas Naulty, of Lynchburg.
Garst, however, asked Lane to give Naulty a stiff sentence.
“This is as serious as we get … without having a funeral,” she said.
But Naulty’s defense attorney, Scott Hansen, argued that his client wasn’t trying to kill the officer that night. Instead, Hansen said, Naulty was trying to “commit suicide by cop.”
“I hear no mercy [from Garst]. All I hear is pure punitive punishment,” argued Hansen, who said after the hearing that he was disappointed by the sentence. “The enemy is not Jason Naulty. The enemy is the mental illness.”
Before Lane ruled on his punishment, Naulty addressed the court.
“There’s nothing I can really say that will make things better, but I’m sorry,” he said, adding he was grateful that police and rescue crews saved his life. “There’s no excuses for the way I lived my life.”
Contact Pete DeLea at 574-6278 or pdelea@dnronline.com